


Are We There Yet?

by DancingHare



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 05:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13428219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingHare/pseuds/DancingHare
Summary: A little story for Childrens' Week.





	Are We There Yet?

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published May 1, 2008

“What’s that?”

Ornasse stole a weary glance skyward. It could not have been much more than a few hours, yet his patience with the little blue squirt was already wearing thin.

“That is a basilisk, it is dangerous. Do not touch it,” he muttered, rubbing gingerly at his temple.

“Oh, oops.” The tiny draenei girl hopped down from the fallen log, flittering about like a sparrow. He was certain that she had not ceased moving since they’d left the orphanage in the refugee city. Ornasse did not suspect that he looked like paternal material, yet the troll matron had nevertheless pushed the little tyke in his direction. Some sort of enrichment program for the unfortunate children, he supposed. Given the nature of the draenei people, he imagined that most would find new homes, perhaps there was a reason that this one was left behind.

“I’m hungry,” she squeaked. What was her name? Ornasse had forgotten, it was Inaa or Inuu or Aana or something like that.

He settled to all fours on the dark forest floor, sniffing the air to find his bearings. “There’s food in my pack, you can–”

“A KITTY!” the girl squealed, roughly four inches from his ear, attaching herself around his neck with both arms.

“Get -off-“, Ornasse growled, long ears pressed back to his head. She blinked in surprise, and immediately stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

What was he doing? He had no idea how to take care of a child, let alone a child from another world. She looked as if she was going to cry. Well, he reasoned, that might stop the endless stream of questions at the very least.

He rose to his feet, his tail flicking thoughtfully. They needed to reach Auchindoun, the ruins that stood in the center of the forest. He knew the trails and valleys of Terokkar well, but he had never had a tiny and appetizing traveling companion with him before and was unsure of the most safe route. Inae’s eyes brightened as she watched him.

“Can I ride you?”

Ornasse grimaced. “No, you may not ride me.”

“But my feets hurt,” she scuffed one of her hooves at the ground. “Ow.”

Had he really begged Zharya for this? The idea of a child was a pleasant one, but he was quickly realizing that the reality was a different matter entirely. The kid was irritating, asked hundreds of questions, and wandered off at the most inopportune times. He’d asked Zharya to stay with him, to have a family and she had declined. Maybe, he thought grimly, she had done him a favor after all.

Ornasse blinked, glancing down at the child who had curled herself up against his flank, looking up at him hopefully. She -was- sort of cute, when she wasn’t making noise, he had to admit.

“Very well, but you have to hold on,” he sighed, and she had scrambled up onto his shoulders before he had even finished, clutching handfuls of his pelt. “Not that hard.”

Carefully, he turned onto the trail that wound along the dry riverbed, breaking into a low, easy lope that — he hoped — would not cause his little passenger to fall off his back.

“How far is it?”


End file.
